Middlesex batsman has dual nationality but having opted to play for Alastair
Cook's team he has the class to stake his claim with the Lions to be
captain's Test partner

It is a story of modern mobility. After being born in Sydney and representing Australia Under-19s, Sam Robson departs for Sri Lanka a week today with the England Lions and, after the calamitous Ashes, Alastair Cook’s opening partner in this summer’s Tests may well be a 24 year-old with an Australian accent.

Robson does not have an exceptional record as a batsman, at any level. It was mainly as a leg-spinner that he represented New South Wales Under-17s and Australia Under-19s, and he batted around No 8. Deduct his boot-filling centuries against Oxford and Durham universities, and he has scored six first-class hundreds and averages 37.

Robson, however, has so many qualities that his rate of improvement is exceptional. Last summer for Middlesex he was the third highest run-scorer in the Championship’s first division. This winter he scored a century in both of the England Performance Squad’s games against Australian state second XIs. He is knocking on the battered door, barely hanging on its hinges, of the England dressing-room.

Michael Carberry, Cook’s existing Test partner, passed 30 six times against the new-ball bowling of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris: but posterity may regard that feat more highly than England’s selectors, and Carberry is already 33. Joe Root’s footwork is awry; Alex Lees, another opener on the Lions tour, has played only 11 first-class matches. The door is open wide.

Robson’s journey begins in 1979 – when his father, Jim, after graduating in commerce at the University of New South Wales, spent a summer in England. He had a mate, Greg Watson, who had a contract with Worcestershire, and Robson stayed with him. Jim Robson felt he would never be good enough to play for NSW but he ended up scoring exactly 1,000 runs for Worcestershire Seconds: “a rare feat”, according to Wisden.

“I went over for the adventure and I enjoyed English cricket so much I think I instilled it into my sons. I was treated so well and the grounds were so lovely,” Robson Snr recalled in Sydney, where he now manages the indoor school at the SCG. “Basil d’Oliveira said we’ll try and get you a few games and I got paid basic expenses.”

Clearly Robson Snr could have become an overseas player. “Looking back, I should probably have looked more into it,” he admitted. But a limit of two overseas players per county was introduced, and Worcestershire had Glenn Turner and Vanburn Holder. Robson went home to become a teacher; to meet his wife who had been born in Nottingham and worked in a school office in Sydney; and to have two sons, Sam and Angus, who played cricket together in the backyard, upgrading when their father took over the indoor school 10 years ago.

Sam Robson, equipped with a dual passport, was therefore following in the footsteps of his father and mother when, after school, he flew to England in 2008. A friend fixed him up with Normandy in the Surrey Championship. Middlesex’s opening bowler, Tim Murtagh, who had been playing for Eastern Suburbs alongside Robson, told him to ring when he arrived in England. Robson shelved his bowling – his windmilly action can produce a fine leg-break, if not consistently, and even a flipper – and began making top-order runs.

“More flexible,” was the judgment of an England selector asked to compare Robson with Nick Compton, another Middlesex opener brought up overseas. The selector might have meant mentally as well as physically. Compton is driven towards goals; Robson was told by his father to take what is on offer, do your best, help the team and enjoy each day.

“I wouldn’t say he’s an anorak but he loves talking cricket,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said of Robson. “As a batsman he plays according to the game. His batting carries a bit more potency than a year or two ago in that he has more scoring options, is more of a threat to the bowler and can put him away.”

Fraser’s opinion that Robson is “not a glamorous-looking player” is supported by the fond memory of Josh Knappett, who was keeping wicket for Finchley when Middlesex allocated Robson to the club: “He had a similar outlook to Eoin Morgan, who was also allocated to Finchley, but Sam had dirty trousers. He had a great game-sense – and brown whites!”

Robson’s growth at Middlesex has been observed with satisfaction by their head coach, Richard Scott. “Sam’s always been a fantastic team-man, with no baggage, and mature beyond his years,” Scott said. “All he wants to do is learn.

“Sam has a great hunger for the long game, and he’s building a reputation for making big hundreds and batting a long time. He has got a fantastic back-foot game so you’ll see him forcing through the covers and cutting.” Robson has had the great advantage of opening the batting for Middlesex alongside Chris Rogers, Australia’s late-flowering opener. “Chris has taught him to always bat with intent in attack or defence,” Scott said.

Fraser thinks Rogers has taught Robson calmness, and the necessity of finding a way to score runs. Compton had left Middlesex for Somerset by the time Rogers reached Lord’s.

As with all county batsmen, there is no knowing how Robson will cope with extreme pace and high-quality spin until he plays internationally. Tackling spin in the three ‘Tests’ against Sri Lanka A will form a large part of Robson’s tour. He is lucky to have the same batting coach for Middlesex and the Lions in Mark Ramprakash, another for whom this is an important tour, as one era ends.

Two of the first four Tests this summer are at Robson’s home ground, Lord’s. If he replaces Carberry, he will not have to tackle Johnson and Harris but the seamers of Sri Lanka and India. Arriving in the right place at the right time, after a long journey, can be the decisive factor.